ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton rushed for a pair of touchdowns and threw for one more in the No. 12-ranked Bulldogs’ 35-14 win over Kentucky on Saturday afternoon. It was a dominating performance in front of a Homecoming crowd of 93,033 at Sanford Stadium.
Stockton ran the ball in for Georgia’s first two scores, wide receiver Dillon Bell had a pair of rushing touchdowns, and the Bulldog offense piled up 425 yards of offense in the win. Stockton, who sat out the fourth quarter, finished 15 of 23 passing for 196 yards and ran for 48 yards on six attempts. Georgia’s rushing attack, led by Chauncey Bowens’ 70 yards on 15 carries, produced 180 on the ground.
The Bulldogs (4-1, 2-1 SEC) converted nine of their first 10 third-down attempts and finished with a 33:38-26:22 advantage in time of possession. The defense held the Wildcats (2-3, 0-3) to 270 yards — about a quarter of them coming after Georgia went up 35-7 and started sitting its starters — and forced two turnovers. Linebacker CJ Allen had six tackles, including a sack and two for loss; he also forced and recovered a fumble. Cornerback Ellis Robinson IV had an interception late in the game.
After getting behind early and trailing at halftime in its previous two games, an overtime win at No. 15 Tennessee and a home loss last Saturday to No. 10 Alabama, the Bulldogs got the ball to start the game against Kentucky and went on a 12-play touchdown drive. Bowens, who started in the backfield, had three runs for 32 yards on the drive, and Stockton put the Bulldogs ahead 7-0 with a 7-yard scramble and score.
Georgia’s defense forced Kentucky to punt on the Wildcats’ first possession, and the Bulldogs started their next drive at their 4. A Stockton pass to wideout London Humphreys for 18 yards moved the ball to the 22, and that was later followed by an 11-yard pass play to running back Nate Frazier. A 19-yard Stockton run on third-and-2 moved the ball to the Kentucky 29, and on the next play, the quarterback hit Humphreys for 17 yards plus a penalty on Kentucky. Two plays later, on the 13th play of the drive, Stockton ran the ball in untouched for a 6-yard score and a 14-0 lead with 55 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Wildcats’ offense got going on their second drive, going 75 yards in four plays and scoring on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Cutter Boley to tight end Josh Kattus to cut the Georgia lead to 14-7 with 14:21 left in the first half. Kentucky got the ball back soon after on an interception by safety Jordan Lovett, but the Georgia defense forced a three-and-out to avoid any damage.
Georgia’s next drive ended with a 60-yard Brett Thorson punt that Humpreys downed at the Kentucky 1-yard line. The Bulldog defense then forced their third three-and-out of the half, giving the offense good field position with 5:39 left in the second. Georgia’s 6-play, 40-yard drive ended with Bell running the ball in for a 3-yard score and a 21-7 lead with 2:45 to go. His rush was Georgia’s 23rd of the half, for 134 yards and three scores.
The Wildcats’ hurry-up offense was able to move the ball inside the 10 in the closing seconds, but Kentucky came away with no points after kicker Jacob Kauwe missed a 26-yard field goal attempt as time expired. At the half, Georgia had a 241-160 advantage in total offense and 17 first downs to Kentucky’s seven. The Bulldogs converted 6 of 7 third-down attempts in the opening half.
Allen forced and recovered a fumble on Kentucky’s drive to open the second half, giving the Bulldog offense the ball at the Wildcat 38. Two plays later, Stockton hit tight end Oscar Delp for 36 yards down to the 5. On third down from the 3, Bell again ran the ball in untouched, pushing Georgia’s lead to 28-7 with 10:54 left in the third.
The Bulldogs added to their lead later in the third with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Stockton to running back Cash Jones, making it 35-7 with 4:23 to play in the quarter. Kentucky added a late touchdown on a 5-yard pass from Boley to Kendrick Law, cutting the lead to 35-14.
Georgia now won 16 in a row against Kentucky, and the Bulldogs improved their record on Homecoming to 83-18-2.
The Bulldogs hit the road next weekend for a game at Auburn. Georgia has won eight in a row in the series, including three straight at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
POST-GAME NOTES
*Faster Start Today: After falling behind 7-0 in the first two SEC games this year and trailing after the first quarter (21-7 at UT, 7-0 vs. #17 UA) and at halftime (21-17 at UT, 24-14 vs. UA), Georgia posted a 14-0 lead after the first quarter today and led 21-7 at halftime on its way to a win.
*Georgia took the opening kickoff 75 yards on 12 plays for a 7-0 lead with 8:51 left in the 1st quarter. Then, it drove 96 yards on 13 plays with another TD for a 14-0 advantage with 55 seconds left in the 1st quarter. The Bulldogs finished 9-for-12 on 3rd Downs today.
*Series History and Bouncing Back: With today’s 35-14 win, Georgia leads the UK series 65-12-2 including winning the past 16 meetings. This is the second longest winning streak against an opponent in school history, trailing only the 22 in a row against Mercer from 1892-1941.
*Georgia improved to 17-3 after a loss under Kirby Smart. Georgia has not lost back-to-back games in the regular season since 2016 and has not dropped two in a row since the 2018 postseason.
*Reviewing The Offense: Georgia tallied 35 points, gaining 425 yards (180-rushing, 245-passing) on 71 plays in the victory.
*Redshirt junior QB Gunner Stockton finished the day 15-for-23 for 196 yards with one passing TD, 2 rushing TDs and one INT in three quarters. Stockton posted a seven-yard rushing TD for a 7-0 lead to cap the opening drive and then a six-yarder for the second. The 96-yard drive came on 13 plays in 5:15. Also, Stockton had two rushing TDs in the season-opening win over Marshall.
*RS-freshman QB Ryan Puglisi (3-4, 49 yards, 1 INT) came in for the final drive of the 3rd quarter and finished the game.
*Georgia took a 21-7 lead on a three-yard run by wideout Dillon Bell that finished a six play, 40-yard drive in 2:49. It was one of two he had on the day to give him five rushing TDs for his career. Also, he had a team-high four catches for 68 yards.
*Redshirt freshman Chauncey Bowens led the team in rushing with 15 attempts for 70 yards). He was making his first career start.
*Nine different Bulldogs had a catch today. Senior Dillon Bell had a team-high four for 68 yards while junior Zachariah Branch had four catches for 18 yards. Freshman tight end Elyiss Williams had a career-high three receptions for 48 yards
*The Bulldogs went up 35-7 with 4:23 left following a nine play, 71-yard TD drive that was capped by a 16-yard pass to Cash Jones on 3rd-and-goal. It was Jones’ first score this year.
*Up 35-7 with 12:31 left in the contest, Georgia failed to convert a 4th-and-1 at the UK 11. They Bulldogs are 5-for-7 on 4th Down this year.
*A Look At The Defense: UK was held to 14 points, tallying 270 yards of total offense (45-rush, 225-passing) on 64 plays.
*UK cut it to 14-7 early in the 2nd quarter on its second possession, going 75 yards on four plays in 1:34. The drive ended with a 29-yard TD pass from Cutter Boley to tight end Josh Kattus. UK’s final score was a 23-yard drive after an INT and came with 1:51 left in the contest to make it 35-14.
*The leading tacklers were junior CJ Allen and sophomore Justin Williams with six apiece.
*Junior CJ Allen notched his second sack of the year plus had his first career caused fumble and fumble recovery. Redshirt freshman Nnamdi Ogboko collected his first career sack. Ellis Robinson IV picked up his second career INT, this one on a red zone stop in the 4th.
*Points Off Turnovers: UK got seven points off two Bulldog miscues. Opponents only have 16 points off seven Bulldog turnovers this year.
*Georgia notched its first fumble recovery of the year as CJ Allen got it after forcing it with 13:18 left in the 3rd quarter at the UK 38. It led to a TD and a 28-7 lead. Ellis Robinson IV got his second INT of the year with 4:02 left in the contest. Georgia is now -2 in Turnover Margin.
*Checking In On Special Teams: Junior PK Peyton Woodring tallied five points on PATs plus took care of the kickoffs.
*All-America punter Brett Thorson had one punt for 60 yards that went out at the UK 1 with an assist by gunner London Humphreys. It was his fourth of 50+ yards this season and seventh played inside the 20 out of 12 total on the year.
*Junior Zachariah Branch had one punt return for 15 yards.
*Captains, Coin Toss And For Starters: Georgia’s captains were Monroe Freeling, Lawson Luckie, Daylen Everette, and Quintavius Johnson. Freeling went down with a leg injury in the first quarter and did not return.
*Kentucky won the toss and elected to defer the ball until the second half. Georgia took a 7-0 lead on its opening drive.
*Georgia started its fifth different offensive line of the season as a pair of true freshmen in Dontrell Glover (RG) and Juan Gaston Jr. (RT) comprised the right side. This marks the first time since 2008 that the Bulldogs started two true freshmen on the offensive line as that year Cordy Glenn (G) and Ben Jones (C) started the final seven games of the season.
*Homecoming: Georgia celebrated Homecoming this week, and at halftime, Jacob Harper and Kate Hacker were named the Homecoming King and Queen. Harper is a fourth-year agricultural and environmental science communication and journalism major from Pelham, Ga. Hacker is a fourth-year marketing major from Cartersville, Ga. The Bulldogs improve to 83-18-2 on Homecoming including winning nine straight.
*Up Next: Georgia (4-1, 2-1 SEC) will travel to Auburn (3-2, 0-2 SEC) with kickoff at 7:30 pm ET on ABC. The Tigers enjoyed an open date today after road losses to No. 11 Oklahoma (24-17) and No. 9 Texas A&M (16-10) the previous two weeks.
POST-GAME QUOTES
Head Coach Kirby Smart
On bouncing back with a win in the SEC…
“It feels great. It’s hard to win in the SEC and you don’t realize that until you’re in it. It’s hard to go on the road and win and our guys came out with good juice today. I think we scored the first two or three drives. That was big- setting the tone, getting off the field some on defense was huge. I think that’s a big success and a big step in the right direction for us.”
On Gunner Stockton’s ability to use his legs…
“I thought Mike (Bobo) called a good game. Gunner (Stockton) plays better when he gets a couple runs in and loosens up and feels good. He’s getting a little beat up, he’s banged up today but he had two third down conversion runs around the 50-yard line that were huge.”
On the defense improving on third down…
“It was a huge emphasis. We are trying to do some different things and give some different looks and make some plays on the ball. I thought we did effect the quarterback better today and we’re going to have to grow in that area to get where we want to go.”
#14 Gunner Stockton | QB | R-Jr.
On his passing execution…
“I felt more comfortable. I think it was about practice. After last week, we just went to work, and I think it paid off.”
On the team’s focus going into this game after last weekend…
“Timing down a fast game and getting back to work is the biggest part, and not taking a day for granted.”
On Micah Morris and his resilience…
“Micah’s a great guy, a good friend. You know, he’ll do anything for you. He’ll fight and claw for every game. It means the world for this team for him to push through.”
#3 CJ Allen | ILB | Jr.
On being up early 14-0 and how the Bulldogs kept pushing…
“You have to keep your foot on the gas. It was nice to start off with the offense scoring. We are just trying to get the ball back to the offense. We are trying to get it back to them as soon as possible. ”
On if he thinks the defense played up to standard…
“There is a lot of stuff to clean up. We had a couple of long drivers standing down in the fourth quarter. We just have to go back home to see what we can fix.”
On how he thinks they got to the Kentucky quarterback today…
“We came into this game knowing it was going to be a physical game. Kentucky is a great team, you know. They have always been. We came in knowing it was going to be a physical match.”